The overwhelmingly pro-Washington crowd was looking for a reason, any reason, to cheer. So whenever there was even a teaspoon of hope, a pinch of it, the fans saw it as a good omen.
And Purdue then would hear about it in Dolby sound.
The Huskies whittled down what had been a 14-point lead to next to nothing, but when it truly mattered, the Boilermakers answered every single time. Over and over, they refused to give ground.
No more so than with less than two minutes left in the game, when Washington trailed by two points and had the ball. JaJuan Johnson, Purdue’s impossibly long-armed center, blocked two shots in a row, one by super freshman Isaiah Thomas, the other by Quincy Pondexter.
“Probably the play of the game, those two blocks,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
These Boilermakers are a tough, tough bunch, and they showed it down the stretch when they refused to budge despite making just one field goal in the last 5 minutes 49 seconds, despite having three players with four fouls in the final 4:19 and despite owning no timeouts in the last 3:32.
It’s the reason Purdue is a Sweet 16 team after its 76-74 victory. E’Twaun Moore, who had no field goals in the second half, hit three of four free throws in the final 13.5 seconds to keep the Huskies at bay.
The next Huskies the Boilermakers face will be a bit more formidable. That would be No. 1 seed Connecticut.
If UConn hasn’t heard, it will know after it watches film of the Boilermakers: This Purdue team is not the plodding Big Ten stereotype. It runs in transition, the way Michigan State does. But on defense, the Boilermakers are very much conference-traditional, treating every opposing player as if he were a flight risk.
“I think that’s one thing they hadn’t seen too much of all year,” said Purdue guard Keaton Grant, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds. “We come up and jam each and every play, trying to stop people from transition, and we’re so physical on the cuts and stuff like that, I think it just startled them.”
Purdue is where it’s supposed to be now that it has health to go with hunger. Robbie Hummel’s back is better. Chris Kramer, the team’s emotional leader, is over the flu that affected him during the season. Other injuries have healed. It’s no surprise, then, that the Boilermakers won the Big Ten tournament and will be one of the 16 teams left in the NCAA tournament at the end of Sunday’s action.
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They should have been higher than a No. 5 seed, if the tournament selection committee truly looked at how teams are playing at the end of the season. No matter how loud the Rose Garden got Saturday, Purdue seemed to be telling the NCAA what it could do with its seeding system and the virtual home game it had handed to the Huskies.
Washington, seeded fourth, slowly cut into Purdue’s lead. Toward the end of the game, Thomas broke down that stodgy defense and either made a shot (he had 24 points) or watched Jon Brockman rebound and put it back. Brockman finished with 20 points and 18 rebounds, a man’s game.
It was the exact scenario the Boilermakers had feared going into the game, and the perfectionist inside Painter had to hate watching it. But that part of him that appreciates heart and determination loved it.
“We have a resilient group,” he said.
And a talented group.
Johnson, in particular, causes all kinds of trouble for opponents. He looks like a 6-foot-10-inch, 215-pound street lamp. He’s not a traditional center, but he’s extremely athletic. He will have his hands full with UConn’s 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet, but Thabeet will have his own problems with Johnson.
“Glad to have him as a teammate because he makes the game a lot easier for us,” Moore said. “If we get beat off the dribble, he’s helping. Or if we get in trouble [on offense], we dish it to him for the dunk.”
Johnson had those two big blocks, and Hummel was there to get the ball in his clutches. That’s how it was for Washington on Saturday. It would get agonizingly close, but every time the Huskies reached out to grab the lead, Purdue put it a little farther out of reach.
The Boilermakers understood what was at stake if the crowd took over.
“If they can make a couple of plays down the stretch and get that lead, it seems like it takes the wind out of your sails,” Painter said.
Those big, puffy sails at the end of the game had a large “P” on them. The Good Ship Purdue is headed to Glendale, Ariz.
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